Apparatus and method to tuft pile fabrics

ABSTRACT

Apparatus and method to prevent the backing material from necking-in while a pile fabric is being tufted by applying a uniform and a greater tension on the backing material prior to entering the front feed rolls of the tufting machine.

United States Patent [191 Short APPARATUS AND METHOD TO TUFT PILE FABRICS [75] Inventor: Joe T. Short, West Point, Ga.

[73 Assignee: Deering lfiilliken Research Corporation, Spartanburg, SC.

[22] Filed: Apr. 2, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 346,730

[52] US. Cl 112/266, 112/79 R, 112/211 [51] Int. Cl. D05c 15/14 [58] Field of Search 112/79 R, 79 A, 266, 410, 112/203, 211, 214, 118, 117, 121.26

[56] ReferencesCited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,788,340 1/1930 Smalley et al 112/79 R [111 3,842,767 1451 Oct. 22, 1974 Ebersold 112/79 R 2,818,03 12/1957 McNutt 112/79 R 2,840,019 6/1958 Beasley 112/118 X 3,580,198 5/1971 Teed 112/203 X Primary Examiner.lames R. Boler Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Earle R. Marden; H. William Petry [5 7] ABSTRACT Apparatus and method to prevent the backing material from necking-in while a pile fabric is being tufted by applying a uniform and a greater tension on the backing material prior to entering the front feed rolls of the tufting machine.

4 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures 7 FAHNTEBHU 2 21m suwaur 2 FIG. -3-

APPARATUS AND METHOD TO TUFT PILE FABRICS Manufacturers of tufted pile fabrics who use woven materials for a backing fabric often encounter the problem of a narrowing of the backing fabric as it passes through the tufting machine. This problem is caused since the backing material is a woven fabric and when tension is applied in the warp direction of such a fabric, the crimp in the warp threads or yarn is decreased while the crimp in the fill threads or yarn is increased thereby causing the width of the fabric in the fill direction to be reduced. This narrowing of the fabric produced on tufting machines equipped with needle bars having needles spaced apart in staggered relation causes irregular spacing of rows of tufting usually on both selvages of the material. The irregular spacing is very noticeable on the face of the fabric and causes much off quality. This narrowing of the fabric is caused by the tension which is applied to the fabric by the difference in the speed of the front and rear backing feed rolls of the tufting machine causing the above noted effect. Much effort has been spent trying to eliminate this problem. Various devices have been tried such as ten-- ter chains, temples, etc., as an effort to overcome the narrowing problem; however, none of these mechanisms have alleviated this problem. Also, it has been standard practice heretofore to have the backing feed rolls pull the fabric from the backing supply roll during the tufting process. This too causes a continuous variable tension in the fabric entering the machine as the fabric roll is progressively decreasing in size and in weight. Often this causes a variation in the stitch count or number of loops per inch from the beginning to the end of a roll of backing material.

The purpose of this invention is to provide a means for applying a uniform and a greater tension-to the fabric prior to entering the front feed rolls than the fabric will encounter while passing between the front and rear feed rolls of the tufting machine. This mechanism also would overcome the varying tension created by the cloth supply roll as means are included for feeding or unwinding the fabric from the roll rather than pulling it from the roll. I

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a novelapparatus and method to tuft pile fabrics which prevent the woven backing fabric from necking-in between the front and back feed rolls of the tufting machine.

Other objects and advantages of the. invention will become clearly apparent as the specification proceeds to describe the invention in detail with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which: I

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a conventional tufting machine equipped with a pre-tensioning roll and backing material roll let-off mechanism;

FIG. 2 is a schematic isometric view of the front and rear feed rolls, the gear boxes, the drive and pretensioning roll mechanism; and

FIG. 3 is a top view of the prior art backing material before the addition of the mechanism shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

Looking now to FIG. 1 the reference numeral 1 is the frame of the tufting machine which supports the con ventional tufting machine elements such as the crankshaft 2, the eccentric 3, the connecting rod 4, the push rod 5, the needle bar 6, the front and back row needles 2 7 and 8, the front and back row loopers 9 and 10, the presser foot 11 and the needle plate 12.

The backing material 13 to be tufted is delivered into the tufting machine by front feed rolls 14 and 15 wherein it is tufted by the conventional action of the needles 7 and 8 and the loopers 9 and 10. Then the tufted fabric is delivered to a take-up roll or folding device (not shown) by the back feed rolls 17 and 18.

Front feed rolls 14 and 15 are driven by a gear box 18 while the back feed rolls are driven by a gear box 19. To drive the gear boxes 19 and 20, respectively, and consequentially the rolls, adjustable pitch V-belt sheaves 20 and 21 are mounted on the input shafts of the gear boxes and are driven by a V-belt 22 which in turn is driven by sheave 23 mounted on the crankshaft 2.

Looking at FIGS. 1 and 2 and especially FIG. 2 the pre-tensioning roll is shown being driven by front feed roll 15 through a sheave 24 on the shaft of roll 15 and a V-belt 27 which drives sheave 25 on the shaft of roll 26. In turn, through suitable gears 29, and roll 28 the pre-tensioning roll 26 drives the cloth roll 13A continuously at a uniform rate to unroll the backing material 13 from the roll 13A. A suitable idler roll 31 is used to help'support the backing material roll 13A. If desired, the roll 31 can be driven from the roll 28 through an adustable V-belt or chain. In" such a case, it is preferred to drive the roll 31 with a surface speed slightly less than the surface speed of roll 28.

FIG. 2 shows also that the front feed rolls are interconnected by gears 32 and 33 and the back feed rolls are interconnected by gears 34 and 35 to provide the desired synchronization of the roll speeds.

Looking now to FIG. 3 the necking-in of the backing material 13 as shown is prevented by the apparatus of FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 3 is a view looking down on the fabric in the direction of penetration of the needles. In FIG. 3 the needle bar is cut away and the position of the front row needles is designated 36 and the position of the back rowneedles 37. The reference number 38 indicates the direction of travel of the fabric. Reference ward the center of the fabric but is considered objectionable since the tufting lines adjacent the selvages cause a rowing effect because of the discrepancy noted above in the spacing of the lines'39 and 40.

To overcome the above, the speed of the roll 26 is adjusted by adjusting either or both of the sheaves 24 and 25 so that the tension in the backing material 13 between the front feed rolls 14 and 15 and the pretensioning roll 26. is greater than the tension in the fabric between the front feed rolls 14 and 15 and the back feed rolls l6 and 17, thereby alleviating the tendency of the fabric to neck-in like that shown in FIG. 3. Also the use of the positive drive let-off cloth roll 28 provides much more uniform tension than was possible when the backing material roll 13A was free standing and the backing material 13 was pulled from the roll by the feed rolls.

ric backing material, supplying the fabric to the front feed rolls, tufting the backing material, supplying the tufted fabric to the back feed rolls and placing the backing material under a tension higher than the tension of the backing material between the front and back feed rolls prior to supplying the backing material to the front feed rolls.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the backing material is positively rotated from the backing material supply roll.

3. Apparatus to produce a tufted pile fabric comprising: a first set of rolls in geared relationship, a second set of rolls in geared relationship spaced from said first set of rolls, means to supply a backing material to and between said first and second set of rolls and means to tuft said backing material between said sets of rolls, said means to supply the backing material including a means to apply a tension to the backing material prior to contact with said first set of rolls which is higher than the tension on the backing material between said first and second set of rolls.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said means to supply backing material includes a roll means to positively rotate the backing material supply roll.

f {UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE" CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3.842.767 Dated OctOber TZZ, 1974 Invent r-( Joe 1. Short It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 2, line 18', the numeral zs" shouldbe -'-26--- Signed 'anci sealed this 31st day of Decemher 1974.

(SEAL) Attest:

I-icCOY M. GIBSON C9 MARSHALL DANN" Attesting Officer' Commissioner of Patents 

1. A method to produce a tufted pile fabric on a tuftiNg machine having front feed rolls and back feed rolls comprising the steps of: providing a supply of pile fabric backing material, supplying the fabric to the front feed rolls, tufting the backing material, supplying the tufted fabric to the back feed rolls and placing the backing material under a tension higher than the tension of the backing material between the front and back feed rolls prior to supplying the backing material to the front feed rolls.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the backing material is positively rotated from the backing material supply roll.
 3. Apparatus to produce a tufted pile fabric comprising: a first set of rolls in geared relationship, a second set of rolls in geared relationship spaced from said first set of rolls, means to supply a backing material to and between said first and second set of rolls and means to tuft said backing material between said sets of rolls, said means to supply the backing material including a means to apply a tension to the backing material prior to contact with said first set of rolls which is higher than the tension on the backing material between said first and second set of rolls.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said means to supply backing material includes a roll means to positively rotate the backing material supply roll. 